I don’t bother to turn my head. I don’t want to see anyone.
It has been days since we found Krista and Ella chained to walls with a whole bunch of other women.
I hear a murmur of voices and the door closes. The soft footsteps that come into the room reveal my sister, Ella.
She looks at me with a sad smile. If it weren’t for the bruises, you wouldn’t know that she had been held against her will just a few days ago. She has come so far since she came into our lives.
She was missing for years. Twenty-six years to be exact. Her mother kept her hidden from us, and my dad never knew where she was. It was like she had fallen off the face of the earth.
She came to us by some damn luck. She had lost her husband after she got pregnant. They had tried insemination to get pregnant and it was confirmed. The sperm that was accidentally used was my not only my club’s VP, but also one of my closest friends. When she came here, she had my dad’s green eyes that all his kids have, so once old club members had recognized her because she looked like her mother, I knew that there was no doubt she was my father’s lost daughter.
I see her in a different light since losing Stacey. Ella had lost her husband in a brutal accident that no one should have had to watch. The baby kept her strong at first, anyone could see that, but you could see how torn and broken she was without him.
I wish I could have half of her strength. She found love again and a new family- something that I didn’t think I would find. I don’t know how I could be open to it although right at that thought, the eyes of Camilla’s light blue ones flash through my mind as she was struggling to breathe after taking a bullet for my father.
I spent the last few days at the hospital so that she could rest and heal because she has nightmares whenever I’m not near. Camilla has now been released from the hospital and is at the clubhouse with the other women we rescued who have chosen to be in lockdown with the club for protection. I just needed to leave for a few hours. I just needed to breathe.
I told myself that I stayed with Camilla at the hospital because I had felt drawn and indebted to her due to her saving my father’s life, but there is something telling me that’s not true and I’m afraid to find out why that is.
“Hey sis, shouldn’t you be at the club? It’s not safe for you to be out here,” I say looking at her.
She nods her head. “Yeah, you should be there too because lockdown means everyone needs to be there, Tyson,” she says using my real name. She only seems to call me Torch when I piss her off, so I know that she’s not mad at me. I can’t seem to figure out why she is here.
“I just needed to get away for a few hours. I’ll be back later this evening,” I say not looking at her. It’s a lie though. I planned to drink until I passed out and go back tomorrow morning or afternoon, whenever the fuck I woke up.
The looks she gives me lets me know that she doesn’t believe me one bit.
“You can lie to everyone else but, trust me when I say this Tyson, I love you, and it-” she starts, but her eyes well up and she has to clear her throat a couple times before she can continue.
“It’s so hard to lose someone that you love so much.” When her voice cracks, I have to pull her into my arms. “Stacey was my best friend. I miss her every day. But you don’t have to do this alone. Let me help you. Let your brothers help you. I can’t sit by and watch you drink yourself to death anymore. Please talk to me.”
I let out a long sigh. “There isn’t anything that anyone can do. I love you, I do, but how do I just let go? How can I move on? I keep expecting her to walk through that door.”
“I know, you don’t ever really move on. It just gets easier to cope with over time. I miss Jeff every single day. Just because I found a way to fall in love again doesn’t mean that losing Jeff hurts any less. But believe me, shutting yourself out like this just delays the inevitable,” she says, and she gets up and walks outside. I hear Damien pull away before I can manage to move.
Her words are like a knife to my gut. I know that deep down Stacey would hate to see me like this, but I still can’t bring myself to do anything about it.
I play her words over and over in my head as I bring the bottle of whisky to my mouth.
It sure as shit won’t take away the pain, but it’ll help me pass out so that I don’t have to think for a few hours.
If I’m lucky, I won’t dream of those beautiful eyes that now haunt me day in and day out.
Chapter Two
Camilla
I’ve been with the Vicious Snakes for days.
When I woke up in the hospital, I thought I was dreaming. Every time my body used to fall asleep from exhaustion, I would dream to be out of that room, away from those men, and back with my brother.
I knew that
